


Friends Don't

by Oliviet



Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: College AU, F/M, Friends to Lovers, basically fluff, don't worry parker and piz are just side characters here, plus there's banter, you know i love a good banter scene or 20
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:12:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26380183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oliviet/pseuds/Oliviet
Summary: College AU one shot based off of the Maddie and Tae song "Friends Don't." Takes place during their second year at Hearst, Veronica never left for Stanford. Logan and Veronica met for the first time in college and became friends, but just maybe they’re a little something more…
Relationships: Logan Echolls/Veronica Mars
Comments: 15
Kudos: 92
Collections: MazzyPalooza2020





	Friends Don't

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jmazzy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmazzy/gifts).



> For J and all the hard work she put into organizing VMPTAP20! I don't own any of the song lyrics used in this chapter.

_They don't cancel other plans  
Have conversations with nothing but their eyes  
_

Veronica pushes the last couple pieces of lettuce from her salad around her plate with her fork, eyeing the French fries left on Logan’s plate.

“Why do you do this?” he sighs, nudging his plate in her direction.

“Do what?” she asks, innocently, helping herself to his fries.

“Order a salad when you want French fries.”

“I wanted the salad,” she protests. “And see? I ate almost all of it.”

“And now you’re after my food. Like always.”

She pops another fry into her mouth. “You were done eating.”

“Maybe I wanted to go back for more later.”

“They’re already cold. You hate cold fries.”

“Microwaves exist.”

“Uh-huh,” she says, plucking another one from his plate.

“So uh, if you two are done,” Wallace starts, giving them each a pointed look. “Anyone have any exciting plans this weekend?”

“Why so you can brag about your hot date again?” Veronica groans.

“I wasn’t going to brag,” Wallace responds, pretending to be offended. “Just wanted to remind everyone that I will not be available Saturday night if you were to need me for anything.”

“Right okay,” Mac says, rolling her eyes. “I’ll be sure to call Logan then if I need a big strong man to open a jar for me.”

Logan puffs out his chest. “Damn straight.”

Veronica shakes her head, pushing his now empty plate back in his direction.

“So?” Wallace presses. “Am I the only one who can manage to get a date around here?”

Veronica and Mac both turn and smack him on the arms. He winces and shoots them both a look, silently asking what that was for.

“Yeah, I’ve got a date,” Logan says.

“Are you seriously still seeing that bimbo you met at Dick’s frat party?” Veronica asks with a groan.

“No,” Logan replies, tossing her a smirk. “For your information, she’s in my Poli Sci class.”

“You pick up chicks in your classes now?”

“Why, you jealous?”

Mac speaks up before she can respond. “My only hot date this weekend is with my laptop and the 10-page paper I have due on Monday that I haven’t started yet. Isn’t college grand?”

“How long have you had the assignment?” Wallace asks.

Mac shrugs. “Not important.”

“What about you, V?” Logan asks. “Any plans?”

She shakes her head. “I’ve got nothing.”

“Not even a case to investigate?”

“Nope.”

She holds his questioning gaze for a moment, wondering if he’ll remember the significance of this weekend’s date. She wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. Or any of her friends for that matter. They didn’t know her when it happened. They never met Lilly.

But Logan, of course, reads her expression all too well. He’s always doing that and she kind of hates it. Most days.

He stops pestering her and lets Wallace excitedly talk about his date again, before offering to walk her to her car when they all part ways from the Hearst cafeteria.

“I’ll call Melissa, tell her we need to reschedule,” Logan says once they’re alone.

“Your date for this weekend? Why would you do that? Just because I don’t have any plans?”

“The four-year-anniversary of your best friend’s death? You shouldn’t have to be alone.”

Why is he like this? From jackass to the sweetest guy she’s ever met in ten seconds flat.

“Logan, you don’t have to do that. I’ll be fine. She’s been gone for four years already. It’s just another weekend for me.”

“Doesn’t make it any easier does it?” he asks. “Having lost her?”

She meets his eyes when they get to her car. He does have really pretty eyes. Is that normal to think about one of your friends?

“No, it still sucks,” she sighs.

“Then while your other best friends are busy experiencing the ‘hot date of the century’ and writing excruciatingly long papers, allow me to cancel my plans so you don’t have to be alone.”

“Logan, you really don’t –”

“I want to,” he tells her, cutting her off. “It’s what friends are for.”

_They don't hear each other's names and forget to concentrate  
Hits a nerve and lights you up like dynamite_

Veronica spots a group of her friends – Mac, Wallace, Piz, and Parker – sitting in the Hearst cafeteria and is about to go join them, when she overhears a snippet of their conversation and Logan’s name comes up. She decides to sit back and listen for a moment, hiding herself behind a table full of football players.

“I’ve tried everything,” Parker is saying. “I don’t know what else to do. How can I possibly make it more obvious that I’m interested?”

“Maybe he knows, but _he’s_ just not interested,” Piz tells her, gently patting her arm.

“Oh please, look who’s talking,” Parker says, rolling her eyes. “Says the guy who still trips over himself when talking to Veronica a whole year later.”

“You’re both idiots,” Mac says, shaking her head. “Logan and Veronica are both too wrapped up in each other to even consider dating anyone else.”

“Wait, they’re dating?” Piz asks, the hurt evident in his voice.

“Not each other,” Wallace mutters. “Yet.”

“What do you mean?” Parker asks. “Logan goes on dates all of the time.”

“Sure, but do they ever stick around?” Mac asks. “Can you even name any of them?”

“Well –” Parker hesitates.

“He’s not serious about any of them, because none of them are Veronica.”

“No, no, no,” Piz starts. “Logan and Veronica are just friends.”

“No, Piz. _You_ and Veronica are just friends. Veronica and I are just friends. Her and Logan? That’s a time bomb just waiting to go off,” Wallace explains.

“How don’t you guys see it?” Mac asks. “The way they look at each other? The way they get so defensive of one another? They’re practically married as is.”

“Hell, just last weekend, the girl Logan brought to that party as his date left him for some other guy after 30 minutes because he spent the entire time arguing with Veronica about which restaurant makes the better lasagna,” Wallace adds. “Literally everyone can see it except for the two of them and apparently the two of you.”

This is insane. Her friends are all insane. There is nothing going on between her and Logan Echolls. So, they like to argue, so what? So, they’re capable of having an entire conversation without either of them actually saying a single word. Lots of people can do that. Right?

And sure, she hasn’t been on a date in few months, but that most definitely has nothing to do with Logan. Parker can have him if she wants him. He means nothing to her. Nothing –

“Why are you sitting over here by yourself?” Logan whispers, bending down so he’s speaking directly into her ear.

And no, that did _not_ just make her shiver. Absolutely not. It’s cold in the cafeteria.

“I overheard them talking about you, so I decided to eavesdrop,” she tells him.

“I knew it! Fake friends. The lot of them.”

She gives him a shove. “They think we don’t date other people because we’re too into each other. Can you believe that?”

“Hey, I go on plenty of dates!”

“Exactly. They’re delusional.”

“Why would I want to date you anyway? You think Fernando’s has the best lasagna in Neptune.”

“Not this again,” she groans.

“Honestly, Veronica how have you never been to Mama Leone’s?”

“For the one hundredth time, I _have_ , but if you go there you have to order their manicotti not their lasagna.”

“Maybe _you’re_ the one who’s delusional.”

“I’m not getting into this argument with you again.”

“Because you know I’m right.”

“Because I know you’re _wrong_.”

“Honestly you two,” Wallace says as he walks by them on his way to dump his remaining food scraps in the trash. “Just go buy some lasagna already this is getting ridiculous.”

“It’s not about the food, it’s about the principle of the whole thing,” Logan explains.

“You have principles about lasagna?” Veronica asks.

“No, just that I’m right and you’re wrong.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“And yet for some reason, you’re still my friend.”

_Friends don't call you in the middle of the night  
Couldn't even tell you why  
They just felt like saying "hi"_

She nearly throws her phone when it starts ringing, mistaking it for her weekly alarm. But then she notices that it’s 2 AM not 7 AM and remembers it’s Saturday not Monday. She squints against the brightness of her screen, noticing that it’s Logan calling her. Panic instantly grips at her chest. Why would he be calling her this late, what’s wrong?

But then again, it’s the time of night when the bars close down and his fake ID is very convincing. Maybe this is just a drunk dial. 

But also, what if it’s not?

“Logan?” she answers tentatively, her voice still heavy with sleep and her fear of the unknown of not knowing what to expect on the other line.

“Shit, sorry, did I wake you?”

He doesn’t sound drunk or hurt. Well he’s going to be if he makes waking her up like this his new habit…

“Is everything okay?” she asks, suppressing a yawn.

She’s greeted by silence on the other line and a part of her wonders if _he_ fell asleep.

“Logan?”

She hears a rustling sound on the other line. Sheets maybe?

“Yeah, no, I’m fine. Sorry.”

“Oooookay,” she says slowly, drawing out the word. “Do you realize what time it is?”

“Yeah, yeah I do. I’m sorry. I just…”

“You just what?”

There’s another long pause. “I just wanted to talk. Hoped you might still be up.”

She stretches the arm she’s not using to hold the phone up over her head. “Well, I’m up now. So talk.”

“No, no you were sleeping, go back to bed. I’m sorry. I don’t actually need anything.”

“I’m still in bed,” she tells him. “And awake now, so go ahead. Whatever it is, I’ll listen.”

“My date tonight wanted to go to Fernando’s. So, I ordered the lasagna.”

“And?”

“You were right,” he concedes. “It _is_ better.”

“Vindication!”

He chuckles. It feels like there’s a lot he’s not saying. He likely just got home from this date and the first thing he decides to do is call her to let her gloat about her superior food opinions? The girl isn’t in his bed with him right now, is she? Not that Veronica would care or anything. He can sleep with whomever he wants.

“You’re not going to ask me about my date?” he asks softly.

“You didn’t call me to talk about your date. You called me to talk about food.”

“Fair enough.”

Another pause of silence and she can’t resist. Can’t resist because he brought it up and now she can’t stop picturing a naked bimbo asleep next to him while he makes a late night phone call to his best friend to discuss Italian food.

“So, how was the date?”

More rustling of sheets like he’s trying to find a comfortable position. “What is it with girls? They talk your ear off and the moment you try and get a couple of words in, suddenly you’re an asshole.”

She smirks. “What did you say to her?”

“Nothing offensive!”

“Logan.”

“Look I – I forget that other girls may not be as open and accepting of innuendo heavy jokes as you are.”

“Whoever said I was accepting of them?”

“You answered my phone call in the middle of the night. They haven’t scared you away yet.”

Veronica sighs, pushing a hand through her hair before repositioning it behind her pillow. “So, what did you say to her? What was the joke?”

“She was talking about her dance class and she kept using the phrase ‘from behind.’ I’m only human, Veronica. I had to do it.”

“No,” she starts, laughing into the phone. “You didn’t. I swear Logan, sometimes you’re still 13 and not 20.”

“You didn’t know me when I was 13.”

“I can only imagine the similarities.”

“You laughed though,” Logan points out. “You think it’s funny. I didn’t even tell you exactly what I said, but you knew what it was anyway.”

“Maybe we spend too much time together.”

“Or maybe, we were already more alike than you realize.”

She sighs, happy to have cleansed the mental image of a naked woman in his bed. She’s not sure why though – why it matters to her.

“So, I guess there won’t be a date number two, then huh?” Veronica asks.

“There rarely is these days.”

“Poor luck in the dating department?”

“Nah, I don’t think that’s it. I think I’m just asking the wrong girls out.”

She feels her heart rate speed up. Is he implying –

“Anyway, I’ll let you get back to sleep. Thanks for answering your phone, Veronica. Good night.”

_Friends don't stand around, playing with their keys  
Finding reasons not to leave  
Trying to hide the chemistry_

_  
_ “You’re lying,” Veronica says, leaning against his car, watching as he aimlessly twirls his car keys around his index finger. He’d dropped her back off at her house 30 minutes ago, but she’s made no move to go inside and he’s made no move to get back in his car.

He holds up his hands. “I’m not. It’s a true story.”

“There’s no way.”

“You don’t know me as well as you think you do, Veronica Mars.”

She shakes her head. “No, I know you better than you think I do.”

“Prove it.”

“Prove it how?”

“You think you know me so well, so let’s hear it. What do you know?”

She hesitates, wondering what kind of trap scenario she just got herself into. “You’re allergic to shellfish.”

“Oh wow, you got me there, Veronica. No one knows that,” he says with an eye roll.

“I’m just getting started,” she smirks back. “You drove a yellow Xterra in high school. Yellow because it didn’t come in orange, which is your favorite color, and you thought yellow was as close as you could get to it. You’re more of a hopeless romantic than most girls I know, but you’d never actually admit to being one. You are, undeniably, a jackass. But I know it’s a front. There’s a sweet guy in there underneath all that innuendo and wildness. He shows up for his friends. On death anniversaries and when their car is stuck in the shop.”

He smiles at her. That radiant smile that, as of late, has started doing things to her insides. “All right, maybe you _do_ know me.”

“Do you know me?” she asks, holding his gaze in the dim glow of the streetlights.

“Oh 100 percent.”

“Prove it,” she challenges, mocking his earlier words.

He sighs, shifting his body weight so he’s facing her, while still leaning against his car. “You are quite possibly the most stubborn person I’ve ever met. But you also have the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met. You like to act tough, like you have it all together and nothing can keep you down. But I know you still have some ghosts from high school that keep you up at night. You like to keep your emotions to yourself, but I can usually read them anyway.”

“Oh yeah? Then what am I feeling right now?”

“I think you know, Veronica. But I’m not going to be the one to point it out.”

_Drive a little too slow, take the long way home  
Get a little too close  
We do, but friends don't_

“Do you have to wake up early tomorrow?” Veronica asks, looking out the passenger side window while Logan drives.

“No, do you?”

“No,” she hesitates, glancing over at him. “Can we take the long way home?”

There’s that grin again. All heat. A warmth that spreads through her like wildfire. Has he always done this to her and she’s just now noticing? Or is this new?

Logan makes the turn that will take them across the bridge to the other side of town. Nowhere near the apartment she still shares with her father.

“You know,” he starts, reaching forward to turn down the music on the radio. “If you would just move out and get a place of your own, we wouldn’t have to spend an extra hour standing out under streetlights or driving in the completely wrong direction.”

“Who said my dad has anything to do with it? It’s not like you’re trying to score and get lucky with me or anything. You just don’t want to go home yet.”

“Maybe I’m just tired of walking in on Dick and his latest conquest of the weekend.”

“Maybe _you’re_ the one who needs to move out and find a place of your own.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

“Late night conversations in the dark it is then.”

“Or,” Logan starts, merging onto the bridge. “We could blow off all of our other responsibilities – school, work, our other friends – and hang out in broad daylight for once.”

She smirks. “Are you implying that we need more alone time together?”

“Well –”

“To do what? Argue about food? Complain about how nosey our friends are?”

“Think about it, V. Whenever we try to hang out in a big group of people, the two of us always end up off by ourselves anyway. So why don’t we just stop saying yes to the parties and group movie nights and make our own plans for once?”

“Are you asking me out on a date?”

“No,” he answers a little too quickly. Logan glances over at her briefly before returning his gaze to the road. “Do you want me to be asking you out on a date?”

_Now there’s a loaded question._

“No. We’re friends,” she explains as though it will solve everything. “We don’t need an excuse to want to spend time together just the two of us. There’s nothing weird about that.”

“Exactly,” she sees him nod.

“But,” Veronica starts, looking back out the passenger window at the water rushing past them below. “I do really like it when we take the long way home.”

_They don't almost say "I love you"  
When they're downtown somewhere, just a little drunk  
_

Oh god this was a mistake. She _knows_ she can’t handle her liquor very well so how the hell did she end up getting talked into taking so many shots? She feels nauseous and a little bit like the room is spinning. She just needs to sit down for a bit. Here seems good.

“Oh no you don’t,” Logan tells her, tugging on her arm when she tries to sit down in the middle of the sidewalk.

“Just for a moment,” Veronica whines.

“I’ll never get you back up again and I refuse to carry you the rest of the way to my car.”

“I’m tiny you won’t even notice.”

“I’ve seen you eat,” he smirks at her.

Oh no. The smirks aren’t supposed to bring around the wildfire. Only his smiles do that. Is a smirk a smile? What’s the difference really? Snark?

“What does snark mean again?”

Logan shoots her a confused a look and _oh_ had she asked that out loud? Alcohol is the worst.

“Never mind,” she shrugs, accidentally stumbling into his side as she walks. “Ignore the internal monologue.”

“I leave you alone for one night and Mac and Parker somehow manage to get you completely wasted,” Logan laughs, tugging on her again when she starts to wander over to the grassy knoll.

“Not wasted,” she huffs. “I could easily spell my name if you asked me to.”

“No one is asking you to.”

She huffs again, annoyed that he seems to think she needs his help to walk. She won’t try and sit again, but she needs him to stop touching her before she goes and says something stupid like –

“You smell nice.”

Like that. You drunk idiot.

“I always smell like this,” he tells her. “Same products I use every day, nothing different.”

“No, I know.”

“So, you always think I smell nice?”

“So what if I do? I’m allowed to.”

He laughs again, shoving a hand in his pocket to dig out his car keys. “What other drunken confessions you got for me, V?”

She shrugs. “Just that I love –” _Stop, stop, whatever you do, do not finish that sentence, sober up, Veronica, sober the hell up._ “Tequila. I think I love tequila. But tequila doesn’t love me.”

The way he’s looking at her, she thinks he’s on to her. But he only laughs as he unlocks his car and helps her inside.

“You usually smell nice too,” Logan says with another one of those smirks. “But tonight you _do_ smell like tequila.”

_They don't talk about the future and put each other in it  
And get chills with every accidental touch_

They’re sitting on the beach huddled around a bonfire with their friends. And just like he’d said a few weeks ago, they’ve ended up alone together on the sidelines, sharing a blanket and looking up at the stars. She supposes their friends just expect it at this point. Their own personal magnetic fields destined to find each other no matter the crowd size.

“Have you ever thought about living somewhere else?” Logan asks. “Somewhere that isn’t California?”

“Thought about it? Sure. Think it’s realistic? Not at all.”

“Your dad is a grown man, Veronica. He’ll be okay without you if you decide to start a life somewhere else.”

“It’s not just him. All of my friends are here. Everything I’ve ever known is here.”

“What if we did it together? Moved somewhere after college just to try it out for a while.”

“So, now you’re offering to be my roommate? I hope you’re okay with paying most of the rent.”

He laughs, light and airy, and slings an arm across her shoulders. She feels the surge it sends through her, the fluttering, fiery sensation. What would he do if she leaned into it, into him? Because it’s taking a lot right now not to just sink against him and rest her head on his shoulder.

Maybe their friends are right. She and Logan aren’t just friends. After all, she’s never had the burning desire to curl into Wallace’s side before.

“L?”

He looks down at her expectantly, not moving his arm away.

_I keep telling myself this might be nothing  
But one look in your eyes and, God, there's something  
You can lie to me and say you don't  
But I know you do, and I love you too_

“Do you ever think about what it would be like?” she asks.

“Us as roommates?”

She shakes her head, meeting his gaze in the firelight. She sees it there, written all over his face, dancing in his dark brown eyes. It’s been there. For months. Maybe even for the nearly two years they’ve known each other. Because he always looks at her this way, but she just now understands what it means.

Veronica presses herself into his side, lets her head fall to his shoulder, and lets her arms wrap around his waist. There’s no hesitation in the way he moves his arms to return her embrace.

“We’re not just friends, are we?” she asks softly.

“I’ve definitely never been in love with a friend the same way I’m in love with you.”

She lifts her head to look up at him again. “You’re in love with me?”

“You’re just now figuring that out?”

She grins at him, stretching up and allowing their lips to meet in a kiss. She pulls away for a moment, lingering against him.

“I was hoping you did,” she tells him. “Because I’m in love with you too.”

She can hear their friends in the background as he kisses her again. The whistles and cheers and all of the “about damn time” comments being hollered in their direction. Let them. It’s fine.

She’s done being “just friends” with Logan Echolls.


End file.
